The Olympics are coming!

I'm so excited that the Olympics are almost here! I don't know what it is about them but I can't get enough. I watch just about every event or tape them if they're on at odd hours. I find myself crying when they even play the Olympic song on a commercial!

I taped the Olympic Trials for Gymnastics, Diving, and Swimming partly so that I could see them and follow along with how the athletes are doing but also to try and get my 5 year old in the spirit. She really has no interest until they're on and she sees how excited I get. Then she really enjoys it. After all, we just saw Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff both break the world record for the 400 IM Swim. How can you not get excited about that!?

I guess you know where you'll find me on the night of August 8th :) I'll be sitting in my family room watching the opening ceremony...crying.

Cutest Wristlet ever!

A few weeks ago I entered a blogging contest for a handmade Wristlet from Boutique NutMeg Designs and won! I received it a week or so ago and have been SO busy that I forgot to show it to you. Look how adorable it is! And the detailed stitching along the edges of the fabric are SO cute!

Best of all, look at the inside!

Thanks so much Meg! Be sure to check out her Etsy store here. Happy Shopping!

good things

Taking my 5 year old to her first pedicure (she said "I feel like a new person!")

Fitting in my 24 minute swim for the week

Wrapping up raffle prizes and gifts for a luncheon this Saturday with friends, 2 bottles of wine, and chocolate cake

Life is good!

cutie

I just love this little guy (a friend of mine's son)

I don't know what it is about him but he just melts my heart!

training update

Well, I'm a week and a half into my triathlon training and it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be! Some people have asked for me to keep them updated on how it's going so here goes...

We're using a training schedule from an online website for beginning triathletes which is proving to be very manageable. Granted it's based on "back of the pack" times which probably means we're all going to come in dead last but that's ok. Here is how my first week looked:

Monday: Swim for 12 minutes, Bike for 24 minutes.
The bike was no problem. I still don't have a bike yet so I was in the gym for this portion. Easy! I watched The View, listened to my IPod every once in a while. It was a breeze! I even hopped on the treadmill and ran for 1/2 mile just to stretch out and loosen up after the bike ride. I was feeling good. Then, later in the day I went for the swim at my friend's pool and discovered something I never knew about myself. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM! I never took swim lessons but I thought "how hard can it be? I've seen Skyler at swim lessons. It's easy. Breath. Use your arms. Kick. Simple!" WRONG! I now see the reason they put the swim first. Because it's the hardest!

Tuesday: off

Wednesday: Swim for 20 minutes.
More of the same. This time I didn't even try to put my face in the water. I just tried to swim, anyway I could, for 20 minutes. I used a kickboard part of the time, fins part of the time, and the rest of the time I just struggled. It's going to be a long 4 months of this way of swimming! I hope something clicks.

Thursday: Run for 12 minutes.
I got on the treadmill at the gym and ran, and ran, and ran. I did it! Twelve minutes of running without stopping. I didn't think it could be done but I did it and felt fine.

Friday: Bike for 40 minutes.
This time the bike was a little more painful. I still watched TV, listened to my IPod, and tried to relax but my butt was hurting about 3 minutes into it! Why don't they make these seats more comfortable? Then I realize. They probably make them for MEN not WOMEN! Oh well, I power through. Then after the bike I hop on the treadmill again for another 1/2 mile run to loosen up.

Saturday: off

Sunday: Run for 20 minutes.
I had just gotten back from Vegas and I was exhausted! My plan ws to go to the gym and do my run while Steve was putting Skyler down for bed but it just didn't happen. I promised to make up for it the next week.

Monday: Swim for 13 minutes. Bike for 26 minutes.
For me, I felt like run training is more important right now than the bike so today I opted to skip the bike and do the run from yesterday instead. I headed for the gym at 6pm. Not a parking space in sight! So, I left and went to the local middle school to run the track, in 90 degree heat! Even though I was supposed to run for 20 minutes, I was meeting a friend to swim at 7pm and only had time for about 14 minutes so that's what I did. Then drove over to the pool and struggled through the swim.

After my run on Monday, I noticed that I was coughing a LOT! Like I couldn't even finish a sentence without coughing. The next day I was still coughing. My boss thought I was sick. I told her "No. It's just because I ran." She's an ex-nurse and suggested I might have Exercise-Induced Asthma. What? I've never heard of such a thing! Long story short, I now have an inhaler to use before or after I run to see if it makes a difference. I'll keep you posted!

Oh, there are now 11 of us doing this triathlon! The fever is spreading and it's great! Stay tuned...

girl's weekend

I just got back from a girl's weekend to Vegas! What a blast! There were 4 of us that went and it was relaxing, tiring, and funny all rolled into one. I can't wait to do it again!

AND, we flew our new favorite airline...Virgin America! It is so cool. You feel like a rock star because it's just so different from any other airline. The lights inside the cabin are purple and blue creating a "nightclub feel" to the plane. Every seat has a tv where you can listen to music, play video games, watch music videos, TV, or movies. You can even shop from your seat, you just swipe your credit card right on the TV screen! We can't wait to fly them again!

nature

Isn't nature and wildlife amazing? At my father-in-law's house, right outside one of the doors, in a little potted tree, a momma hummingbird made her nest. Have you ever seen a hummingbird sitting still, not flying a million miles a minute? Me neither!

Shortly after making her nest in this little tree, my father-in-law started a remodel on the bathroom that is inside this door. So, in came the workers, walking past her nest hundreds of times a day, using the tile saw within feet of her new little home, and she stayed. Some wild animals, I would guess, would just abandon their eggs. "It's too much work to be so worried about these people coming within inches of my nest. It's stressing me out. I'm leaving!" Who knows why she didn't leave. Motherly love I suppose.

The babies have hatched now, three from what we can tell. She still flies back and forth hundreds of times each day, out to search for food, back to feed them. And anytime she's sitting on the nest and someone walks by, she flies away and kind of hovers as if to say "I don't know who you are or why you're here but stay away from my babies." Nature is amazing!

a trip to the yogurt shack

A few friends met us recently at a local frozen yogurt shop where you serve yourself. It's the greatest thing ever! You pick what flavor (or flavors) you want and how much of it you want. Then you move over to the topings and get as many as you want! They charge you by weight.

It's one of the kid's favorite places to go (and the moms think it's pretty swell too).